Thesp will star in Dardenne brothers' next pic

Pic is produced by the Dardennes’ Les Films du Fleuve in Belgium, and Denis Freyd’s Paris-based Archipel 35.

Cotillard will star as Sandra, who helped by her husband (Fabrizio Rongione), only has one weekend to convince her colleagues to give up their bonuses so that she can keep her job.

Pic will lense this summer in Belgium.

Diaphana has French distribution rights, Wild Bunch will rep the film internationally.

The Dardennes have a stellar fest track record, which includes five Cannes nods. Their latest film, “The Kid With a Bike,” won Cannes’ Jury prize and earned a Golden Globe nomination and a European film nod, along with a flurry of international awards.

This month Variety announced Cotillard is in talks to star in Benoit Jacquot’s “The Diary of a Chambermaid,” another highbrow French-language drama, due to shoot in March 2014.